A new survey found nearly half of Canadians don't have a savings fund set aside for emergencies, suggesting many would have to withdraw money from their RRSPs or take on debt to cover an unexpected expense.

The survey, released Monday by CIBC, found that 55% of Canadians said their household has an emergency savings fund. Regionally, Atlantic Canada has the lowest number of people with emergency savings funds (55%) and British Columbia has the highest (60%).

Younger Canadians are less likely to have an emergency fund, with only 51% of Canadians aged 18 to 44 saying they have one, compared to 60% of Canadians aged 45 to 64.

The results of the survey, conducted by Harris/Decima, were based on a poll of 2,003 Canadians between March 22 and April 2. The poll has a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.